Inspired by a Picture

Joining in for writer's workshop again this week. I love that it is giving me a reason to write and most importantly, something to write about! Onto the writing!

Prompt 1: Throwback Thursday: Choose a photo from a previous June and write a blog post

June 28, 2020

This is Natalie at the urgent care. She had passed out at home. Scared the crap out of me when I hear McKayla screaming from the kitchen, "Natalie just had a seizure!" 

By the time I got in there, she was coming to and saying "no I didn't." 

So, I tell her I think she passed out, asked her "why else would you be leaning over your cereal? You have it in your hair!" She reluctantly agreed. Said she wasn't feeling well, light-headed and dizzy. We got her to the couch (better then the counter height table.) 

Anyway, after talking to the doctor, twice. We were told to take her to the urgent care, just to be checked out. They checked her blood pressure, blood sugar, and an ekg. All were normal and we have no idea (to this day) what happened. It also happened to be the first day of her first menstrual cycle, so I wonder if that might be part of it.

Update on the Fur-baby

On Sunday, we took Odin to the vet. He's been coughing (like he has phelm stuck in his throat) and had a snotty nose (just like a kid, I tell you!) He's also been acting like he can't see very well, but that had been off and on. Like one day he would act like he was blind, bumping into my leg, falling off the sidewalk when Natalie walked him, not grabbing the treat out of my hand like usual. Odd things like that. Then a couple days later he would be fine. 

Anyway, finally got him into the vet, we take the dogs to the Idaho Humane Society Veterinary clinic. They help us out with the pricing because we are low income. It helps. That's why we had the Sunday appointment, they have a walk-in clinic on the weekends. We missed our chance on Saturday because we showed up too late, so we weren't taking chances on Sunday and got there at 9 am, only an hour after they opened. They got us in quite quickly considering the full waiting room.

I will spare you the details of that zoo. In the room, the doctor had us unleash him so that he could see him walk around, watch the way that he walked and interacted with his environment. It was painfully obvious that something wasn't right. He put him on the table and looked at his eyes, not cloudy or showing obvious signs of cataracts or anything like that, so he went to get his light and eye looker thingy. He took long looks into his eyes and determined that Odin likely has 90-95% vision loss. There is some vision, but not a lot. He called the reason for the loss "retinal displacement" and said it was probably gradual and that he got used to not being able to see so well and just adapted to it. Which is also why we didn't notice until it got to be almost total blindness. There are options, but none of them great. What the vet recommended was just to learn how to live with it, how to adapt to his disability and help to give him his best life. We can do that. 

The other concern, his doggie cold, is all upper respiratory (thank God!) so we were given a lovely 10 day prescription for antibiotics to be given twice daily. To say that Odin isn't a pill taker is an understatement. It has been a struggle but only a few days left! Hoping that this round of antibiotics will take care of it and we won't have to go another round. I am already done and we only started Sunday! 

As we do at every vet visit, we discussed his weight. At his last check, he was 13 pounds, a healthy weight for his size. At this visit he was 20. Not so healthy. Apparently they put recommendations for portions on dog food bags not for health but to sell you dog food. So, now he is getting FAR less food and hopefully he can loose some pounds since mom was feeding him about twice as much food as he needed daily. :( Freaking dog food companies suck! 

One other thing we think is that he is older then the seven years old that we thought he was... the vet agrees... not sure how old he is but we plan to give him an amazing life however long that is. 

Alivia's Surgery

This has been quite the busy month. First big thing that happened was Alivia's tonsil and adenoidectomy. From March until June of this year she had strep throat five times so it was decided that the best thing to do was to remove the tonsils and adenoids.

Her check in was at 11:15 am. She couldn't eat or drink anything after 10 am.

This is her and I at check in. See the bunny? That's Angel Bunny, the same "lovie" I took with me when I had my tonsils out. Not going to lie, this mommy might have cried a little bit when Alivia asked to take her along. Knowing that a piece of my mommy was going in with her.

12:05 pm we were in a room, she was getting her pre-surgical vitals and such done. During this time it was just her dad and myself (and her of course!)

She was such a rock-star in this room. Never even batted an eye or acted scared at anything. SO proud.

12:15 pm - gowned up and ready for the next step. The nurse warned us that there would be a lot of waiting and a lot of talking. We would be meeting the anesthesiologist, surgeon and a child life specialist.

During the boring doctor talk, Alivia got to watch cartoons and take silly pictures with me and her daddy.

1 pm - mask decorating. At this point we met the child life specialist. A child life specialist is a person trained to deal with pediatric patients. They help the kids to understand what is going to happen and make sure they don't have any questions or concerns about things. Basically helping make them as comfortable as possible. The child life specialist helped her to decorate her air mask and coated the inside with a smelly chap stick so it smelled good for her.

Once the mask was ready, we got to go get Frances, Stevie and Adler and then wait some more. As soon as they were ready, she would head back with the team for her surgery.

at 1:45-ish she was rolled back to the OR and by 2 pm she was in surgery. At that point, Jimmy and Frances had to go grab something for Adler to eat, she was getting cranky (well, we all were to be honest!) They kindly grabbed me something as well. I sent Stephen off to get some food for himself as well and I waited. The whole time I waited I repeated this verse in the waiting room:

Before everyone could even get back to the waiting area, Dr Robison came out to let me know how surgery went. He said that her tonsils were definitely inflamed and enlarged. It was a good decision to take them out. Also said that everything else went well. Someone would come get us as soon as she started waking from the anesthesia. 

We were back in the recovery room with her by 3 pm and she was miserable. First going back, it was just Jimmy and I again. She was coughing up blood when I first saw it. I almost cried. All I could do was sit there and stroke her head. Eventually, the nurse was able to get some meds in her (both iv and orally) and got the pain under control and also had some humidified air going.  Her dad got to hold the water and juice cups and I got to hold the popsicle. We took turns helping her out. I fed her the popsicle while he gave her drinks. 

Me helping her with the popsicle. 

By the time we left the hospital at 4 pm, she was eating her own popsicle, had already eaten one full one and another half and was working on the second half. That's almost two before discharge! I was impressed. 

Post-operation Recovery

Alivia spent her first two nights at dad's house then came to my house. Not going to lie, that first week was freaking rough. We were up every three hours for pain meds but it seemed to be working. 

As we approached Friday, I thought we should start stretching it out between doses, to get her ready to go back to school. The discharge nurse seemed to indicate that she would return to school the week after. (Spoiler alert: that so did not happen) 

The first night of that was a disaster. Before she was even due for her 3 hr med, she was up crying in pain. She was hunched over the toilet saying she was going to throw up. All she was doing was spitting, when I finally convinced her that it was just excess saliva, she calmed down a bit but still didn't want to leave the bathroom. I turned on the shower full blast hot to get it steamy, got her a popsicle and rocked with her in the bathroom for a half hour. Finally I was able to get her onto the couch and resting but three hours later, same thing, slightly less intense. I got about six broken hours of sleep. 

The days are honestly all starting to blend together. Lets just say that both households are now dealing with a lack of sleep and are just freaking ready for the healing to begin and for our poor baby to be out of pain. Frances has threatened to run away if we have to have another surgery in the household and I think I will join her. ;)

Tonight was her first night back with me after four nights. She is starting to act a bit more like herself again. She was rocking out awhile today to Katy Perry's Fight Song last night (after which she complained her throat hurt lol). Then she picked up a book to read. The whole household went to bed late, so her last dose of pain medication was at 10ish, and she slept until almost 8 am when she was a little upset about her sore throat. A dose of ibuprofen and a little time and she was back to playing. 

We are working with her on how to balance not overworking her throat just yet. She will return to school next week, just pray that things go well. 

Treating a Cold With DoTerra

Wednesday, I wasn't feeling great. Just felt off and by Wednesday night I had my reason, it was a nasty bug attacking my body. By Thursday I felt awful, my symptoms included a cough, runny nose, post-nasal drip, a sore throat and headache. I knew that I wanted to use this as an opportunity to use my doTerra physician's kit.

I am so grateful for my friend Jenna, she is my doTerra guru. She suggested liberal use of On Guard and also Breathe (both doTerra blends.)

I also found a great recipe for a sore throat gargle on pinterest. You simply add two drops of lemon and one drop of on guard in a couple table-spoons of hot water. It shouldn't be so hot that it burns, just hot enough to be able to gargle. Then you simply gargle it a few seconds and then swallow it. This is seriously the BEST RECIPE EVER! It numbs like that spray without the awful taste. Plus it is all natural!

Yesterday I put some Breathe in a roller ball applicator and it's been my best friend. I have also been using it in my diffuser as well as On Guard and Serenity.

I can't say if doTerra made my cold go away any faster, but I do know that it made me much less miserable while dealing with it. Please feel free to comment or email me with any questions or comments you have.


1000 Gifts: three gifts given away

• It is a gift to have enough in my life to be able to give back to others. I am slowly starting to do a few fundraisers and it feels good to give back. 
• It is a gift to be able to donate the things that we didn't need or use anymore to those who can use it. 
• It is a gift to be able to know that what I don't need anymore goes to help others. 

Thankful Tuesday

As some of you know, I have been sick the last few days. Sicker then I've been in a long time. Needless to say, gives me a few more things to add to my thankful list.

1. I am thankful for paid time off so I don't have to worry about my budget while trying to get healthy.
2. I am thankful for my husband who took care of things while I couldn't get off the couch. 
3. I am thankful that my husband was willing to help me clean up after Liv caught my bug. Not fun for a mom who is sick, even less fun for a man who just stepped into fatherhood two months ago. 
4. I am thankful for amazing coworkers who have been nothing but nice to me, even though I am leaving them short. 
5. I am thankful for an understanding supervisor who never gives me a hard time about calling in. I was in a position before where it felt like I had to go to work, sick or not. 

1000 Gifts: three gifts in the kitchen

• It is a gift to have a husband who is handy in the kitchen. 
• It is a gift to have a working dishwasher. 
• It is a gift to have a pantry that has lots of choices. I may not want to cook, but I have food to do so. More then some people can say. 

Thankful Tuesday

It's Tuesday and time to count my blessings. I honestly believe that you are a happier person when you consistently remind yourself of all the situations (and things) you have to be thankful for.

1. I am grateful for antibiotics and medication. We found out yesterday that BOTH girls have double ear infections and Stephen tested positive for influenza a. I am so glad that there are things on the market to at least help keep my loves more comfortable. 
2. I am grateful for a boss who has been nothing but understanding about all the issues I've had. I have never once had to worry about my job, even when I lost three weeks of time (while dealing with mom things). My coworkers too, they have all been super supportive when I had to adjust my schedule and juggle things a little bit. 
3. I am grateful for caffeine. That's all. 
4. I am grateful that there are a few shows that Stephen and I can watch together. It's wonderful to be able to enjoy them together. Plus a couple of them are ones neither of us have seen so it's nice to get into them together. 
5. I am grateful for quick and easy dinner. With Stephen's illness he  hasn't felt up to cooking as much so it was top ramen last night and everyone was still happy. 

1000 Gifts: Three things you are grateful for.

• I am grateful for my tablet. It's got books, games and internet. Easy to take with me to keep me busy. =) 
• I am grateful for my nice warm bed. It's comfortable and big enough for Stephen and I both. 
• I am grateful for my comfy couch. It is a wonderful to be able to kick back and relax after work on it. 

House full of Sickies!

Only Alivia and I are still standing. Praying for healthy for our house soon. McKayla has a double ear infection and Natalie's ears are "bulging" but not infected. Praying we can get it under control before it hits that point. She is prone to them, so it's a definite possibility.


1000 Gifts: three gifts of fresh mercy

• it is a gift to have a wonderful God who gives me more mercy then I ever deserved. 
• it is a gift to have forgiveness, even when I don't deserve it. 
• it's a gift to get grace from my lovely husband when I'm not the best housewife. 

Sick and Tired

This stupid "summer cold" has lasted two weeks. Two girls so far have ended up with ear infections and I am not feeling like doing much of anything. I figure I must be coughing at night because I wake up exhausted.... Any prayers of healthy vibes would be appreciated.

365/244: Sickies

Just a reminder, since school is back in session, the germs are also back. We suffered our first sick day on McKayla's second day of school.

And I am sure Liv had the same thing Sunday.

You can quickly tell that a kiddo isn't feeling well when they nap at 3pm and do so on the living room floor.

Not going to lie though, I do cherish these days when they are sick because they are so snuggly.

Sickies

Just a preview of how our weekend was spent.

Lets just say that my strep made its way into another person, namely Natalie.

Poor thing was MISERABLE Thursday night. The first dose of penicillin went in fine, the second got spit back at me (I was not amused!) We had to give her four doses a day for 10 days. Should be interesting.

She seemed better Friday, but still not the Natalie we know. We used the spray once, she freaked out. I think she used one cough drop and decided that she didn't like them. So we kept her dosed with Motrin and Tylenol for the next day. Just to avoid the meltdown she had Thursday. Its just rough when they are sick. I will tell you, I prefer an ear infection over strep every day!

Wordless Wednesday

Does it need any explanation? One ear infection turned to 4 after just one short trip to the doctor. Lets just say I wish I had amoxicillin on tap at this point. THANK GOODNESS for $4 walmart prescriptions!

Sick. Again.

Yep. Me and Natalie. Yesterday Nat was running a fever of 102.2 under the arm when she woke up. :( Poor baby. Even with the help of our good friend Motrin it was still at 99.0 under the arm. And I am still stuffy from last week's cold. I am still praying we get healthy before Miss Alivia makes her appearance.

Did you know that the average 18 month old will catch EVERY virus they come in contact with. So, if they catch two a month, lasting an average of 12-14 days, then they are only healthy two to six days a month... UGH! I hate winter!!!

Sick

again. Gosh this sucks. I didn't even go to school tonight, which I am going to regret later. But I took a nap instead. Went to urgent care this afternoon and I have cervical adenitis. Sounds horrible doesn't it?? Kind of like I might die tomorrow. But what it's really a bacterial infection of the lymph nodes. It sucks. My ears hurt, my throat hurts, my glands are swollen and sooo tender, and my nose will not stop. They said the swelling in my neck might take up to two weeks to go down. OUCH. My manager could tell looking at me it was swollen. How embarrassing. I think I will go crawl under a rock now.

Sorry about the whine... you are the only ones who can't judge me (out loud, on computer, completely different!)